Tech & Biz

Businessman Trademarks the ;-)

by Amy Judd | December 11, 2008 at 04:18 pm

131 views | 7 Recommendations | 3 comments

That famous symbol of the ;) or ;-), which is the same in any language, has caught the attention of a Russain businessman, who has trademarked the emoticon and plans to charge companies for its use. It was granted to him by Russia's federal patent agency, but critics argue that this is not possible because the emoticon has been in the public domain for too long.

He has said that he will only go after companies that misuse the symbol, not individuals.

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"I want to highlight that this is only directed at corporations, companies that are trying to make a profit without the permission of the trademark holder," Mr Teterin said in comments on the Russian TV channel, NTV.

"Legal use will be possible after buying an annual licence from us," he was quoted by the newspaper Kommersant as saying.

"It won't cost that much - tens of thousands of dollars," added the businessman, who is president of Superfone, a company that sells advertising on mobile phones.